NASA Aims to Stifle the Sonic Boom

(NEWSER) - Above the Hudson River west of Manhattan, where a helicopter and a light plane fatally collided on Saturday, a pilot can have as many as a dozen other aircraft to monitor at busy moments. Flight instructors describe the river corridor as dangerous and tunnel-like, and government is once again facing calls to step in. "It's the Wild West out there, totally unregulated, and no one knows where these pilots are," one official tells the New York Times. More»

Overseas audiences meet the F-22 'Raptor'

(NEWSER) - Aviation experts were treated to a display of the world’s most advanced fighter jet at the kickoff of the Farnborough International Airshow today in England, Reuters reports. In its first international exhibition, the Lockheed Martin F-22 “Raptor” executed a dizzying array of flips, dips, and dives as it showed off the dual engines that allow it to achieve twice the speed of sound. More»

Self-repairing process mimics the way human body heals

(NEWSER) - British aerospace engineers are working on technology that could create self-repairing aircraft, Gizmag reports. In a technique very much like nature's healing process, resin would "bleed" out of damaged parts of the plane and harden, making a damaged aircraft strong enough to continue to fly until it could be repaired properly on the ground. More»

Canadian grad student provides the power

(USER SUBMITTED) - Leonardo da Vinci drew the first man-powered ornithopter over 5 centuries ago, and the concept has finally become reality. A University of Toronto engineering PhD candidate took the very flight in an aircraft called "Snowbird," which has a 105-foot wingspan and weighs only 94 pounds. He pedaled to get it airborne, and the plane maintained altitude and airspeed for almost 20 seconds, covering about 475 feet by flapping its wings. Todd Reichert said the demonstration was "meant to act as an inspiration to others to use the strength of their body and the creativity of their mind to follow their dreams." Read the full article . More»

If Puffin aircraft works, welcome to the jetpack era

(NEWSER) - It exists only on paper at the moment, but NASA's Puffin aircraft just might bring the jetpack age into reality. Engineers "have combined every one of our geeky transportation dreams into a single little vehicle," writes Jason Paur. "It takes off like a helicopter and flies like a plane. It can cruise at 140 mph and, with a boost mode, hit about twice that. Oh—and it’s electric," he writes for Wired . More»